MLB Player News

Cron remains out of the lineup Tuesday against the A's, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

Jefry Marte got the nod Monday against lefty Francisco Liriano, and despite an 0-for-3 showing Monday, Marte will remain at first base against right-hander Jesse Hahn. Cron seems to be in the doghouse after batting just .208/.259/.226 in his first 59 plate appearances of 2017. It's uncertain where exactly Cron will fit upon Luis Valbuena's return from a hamstring injury.

Bell went 1-for-3 against the Cubs on Monday and has at least one hit in each of his last seven starts.

He started slowly but is batting .333 in his last 24 at-bats. The switch hitter has also belted a pair of homers while hitting righty over his hot stretch. There remains a possibility Pittsburgh moves him back to his natural position in the outfield from first base, but his hot bat will likely remain in the lineup, regardless of where he plays.

The Indians want Diaz to work on improving his pitch selection while he works in Triple-A Columbus, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports.

Diaz made the Opening Day roster in large part because a slew of injuries created a spot for the third baseman. Now back in the minors, the prospect has been tasked with specific objectives -- improve his pitch selection and learn when to attack inside pitches. "It's just he catches the ball very deep and he has the ability to accelerate to the ball very deep, which allows for low-trajectory, high-velocity balls off the bat," Tribe hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo said. "If there's one thing to work on with him, it's just balls in, catching them out front."

Cron is not in the lineup Monday against the Blue Jays.

Cron will head to the bench in favor of Jefry Marte as southpaw Francisco Liriano heads to the mound for the Blue Jays. Despite ostensibly being first on the depth chart, Cron has found himself part of a platoon with Marte, so it will be interesting to see how his playing time is affected once Luis Valbuena (hamstring) returns from the DL.

Goldschmidt is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Padres.

Monday appears to be a rare off day for the slugger, as the team will instead start Chris Herrmann at first base. Assuming there's no underlying injury at play, Goldschmidt will almost certainly be back in the lineup Tuesday.

Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer -- his third of the season -- in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Dodgers.

Goldschmidt delivered a pair of RBI in all three games of the series, allowing him to double his existing output in that category for the season. The first baseman has underwhelmed with a .257 batting average thus far, but thanks to a 19.3 percent walk rate, he's been able to reach base in more than 40 percent of his plate appearances. So long as he continues to rack up the walks -- and avoid the injury bug -- Goldschmidt should be in store for a third consecutive 100-run campaign, not to mention all his other fantasy contributions.

Bour went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Sunday's win over the Padres.

The sixth-inning blast, his third homer of the season, capped a six-run frame that put the Marlins in the lead for good. Bour's hitting just .194 (12-for-62) to start the season, but he has scraped together a modest five-game hitting streak, going 6-for-17 with two homers and five RBI.

Gurriel went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI during Sunday's win over Tampa Bay.

After going 0-for-4 Saturday, Gurriel was back to work for his fantasy owners Sunday. He's sporting an active 15-for-32 stretch at the plate with five runs, three doubles, a home run and five RBI over his past nine games. While he's probably never going to turn heads with his power, Gurriel has the potential to be a solid contributor in the runs, RBI and batting average columns.

Rizzo went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run during Sunday's loss to Cincinnati. It was his third consecutive game with a homer.

Up to 10 runs, five doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI and three stolen bases with a .296/.412/.535 slash line, Rizzo has kick-started 2017 as expected. He's a set-and-forget option at first base and offers a high fantasy floor because of the strong supporting cast surrounding him in the Chicago lineup.

Joseph is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Braves.

Joseph has yet to find his groove at the plate, posting just two multi-hit games in his first 16 appearances. He'll be replaced by Brock Stassi on Sunday, but should be back in the lineup for Tuesday's matchup with the Marlins.